The continuing pursuit of more stringent regulations pertaining to the control of contaminants emitted into the ambient atmosphere has led to the requirement for more effective treatment of emissions emanating from commercial and industrial processes.
One of the more difficult to deal with toxic substances encountered in industrial exhausts is mercury. Mercury, in the form of mercury vapor, is prevalent in industrial exhausts, and the removal of mercury from industrial exhausts has received much attention in efforts to attain effective results with economy.
The present invention accomplishes effective removal of mercury from industrial exhausts, with economy, through the utilization of a known physical characteristic of mercury. As reported in page 343 of a text entitled BASICS OF GENERAL CHEMISTRY, by B. V. Nekrasov, published by Chemical Publishing, Moscow, 1969, in the presence of even minute traces of ozone, mercury will tend to lose its liquidity and will be deposited on the wall of the vessel within which it is contained, in the manner of a thin film. The present invention provides method and apparatus which takes advantage of that physical characteristic to accomplish the removal of mercury from industrial exhausts.